Various types of web materials, including photographic film, have long been wound into rather large reels or rolls for shipment or sale. To prevent the web materials from loosening or clock-springing on the rolls, a common practice has been to tape the trailing end of the web material to the outermost convolution. In the case of photographic films, large diameter rolls of film may be shipped over long distances, the rolls being placed flat in stacks. If the outer convolutions of the film are not held tightly in place during such movement, they will tend to move vertically due to vibrations generated during transport, which can lead to abrasion marks on successive convolutions of the film. Similar difficulties can be experienced with other types of web material.
When a roll of web material is being wound under tension, the last convolution needs to be held at that tension while the web material is cut and its trailing end is attached to the roll, typically with a tab of tape. If the web material is allowed to go slack, the outer convolutions rather quickly will clock-spring loose, after which it is nearly impossible to pull the web material back to the wound-in tension. Commonly, the cutting and taping of the end of the web material, such as photographic film, is a manual operation. After the winding apparatus has stopped, the operator must hold the trailing portion of the web material very tightly against the roll with one hand while the web material is cut and then apply a precut tab of tape to the trailing end of the web material with the other hand. This is a difficult task to accomplish and even a slight relaxation of the tension on the roll can lead to later abrasion problems of the type just mentioned. Thus, a need has existed for an apparatus and method for securing the trailing end of such web materials without losing tension in the web.